Amrum

Amrum is about twenty square kilometres, but in front of its western shore lies the Kniepsand, a sand bank that has migrated against the island and is up to two kilometres wide and ten long, giving one of the largest beaches in Europe by area. Behind it stand dunes rising over thirty metres. The island lies in the Wadden Sea national park, and the mudflats to the east are crossed on guided walks at low tide. The lighthouse of 1875 is a tower of about forty-two metres set high on a dune, which lifts its light some sixty-three metres above the sea - higher than any other on the German North Sea coast. Frisian is still spoken by part of the population, and old sea captains' graves stand in the churchyard.

What you actually see

• The Kniepsand - a sand bank up to two kilometres wide against the shore.
• The 1875 lighthouse - its dune-top light the highest on the German North Sea coast.
• The talking gravestones - captains' graves carved with their life stories.
• The Frisian language - still spoken by part of the island population.

When to go

May to September; ferries run to tide-dependent timetables and are cancelled in storms. Mudflat walks must be guided. Winter services are minimal.

Honest expectations

Getting there takes two ferries or a long crossing and is tide-bound. The beach is vast but exposed and windy. The North Sea is cold.

Nearby

Föhr lies east; the Halligen are north.